1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a porous body which contains aluminum titanate as a main component.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since aluminum titanate has a low thermal expansivity, excellent thermal shock resistance and a high melting point, it is used as a porous material for use in a catalyst carrier for treatment of an exhaust gas of an automobile, a diesel particulate filter or the like. Therefore, various materials containing aluminum titanate have been developed.
For example, there is proposed an aluminum titanate and mullite based porous material having a predetermined chemical composition for the purpose of improving thermal cycle durability in a case where an aluminum titanate based material is used as a honeycomb catalyst carrier for a catalytic converter (see Patent Document 1).
Moreover, it is disclosed that, in a case where the material containing aluminum titanate as the main component is used in the catalyst carrier for the treatment of the exhaust gas, the filter or the like, a pore former is generally added to a raw material to enhance porosity. Suitable examples of the pore former used in the case where a honeycomb carrier made of aluminum titanate is manufactured are known to include active carbon, coke, polyethylene resin, starch, graphite or the like (see Patent Document 2).
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-8757
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-87797